"Xinyi, have you prepared the meal?"

As soon as it was 11 o'clock, Zheng Xiulian rushed home in a hurry to cook for her daughter-in-law.

But when she came back, she found wisps of smoke rising from her kitchen.

Today, my husband and son are in the fields, and my daughter has gone to work at the supply and marketing cooperative. Only my daughter-in-law Tang Xinyi is at home.

Although she had not had much contact with the Tang family before, Zheng Xiulian knew that the Tang family treasured their daughter very much.

I originally thought that Tang Xinyi couldn't cook, but who would have thought that the aroma of food was already wafting out before she even got home.

"Mom, are you off work?"

"There's hot water in the pot. Please get some hot water and scrub it!"

The weather was hot, and as soon as Zheng Xiulian walked into the kitchen, Tang Xinyi saw sweat on her forehead.

"Xinyi, you've worked so hard!"

"I said I'd come back early to cook, but I was still a step too late!"

This is what my eldest son repeatedly reminded me of this morning.

He told her to come back early to cook even if she earned fewer work points today, so as not to let his young wife go hungry.

Unexpectedly, she was still a step late, and she felt a little guilty.

"Mom, I've prepared water for you. It's hot now, so you'll feel cooler after taking a shower with hot water!"

Chen Xiulian was touched when she saw the basin of hot water handed to her.

"Then I'll go wash up first. Your father and the others probably won't be home until half past. Add two more buckets of water to the pot so they have hot water when they come back!"

Don’t think that people in rural areas don’t care about things. Everyone knows that taking cold showers in summer can easily cause rheumatism.

That’s because the conditions are not met. Everyone is busy working in the fields to earn work points, so how can they have time to boil water?

What's more, doesn't chopping wood require labor?

This is because the village chief's family is well-off, so Zheng Xiulian doesn't take these things seriously.

If it were any other old lady, she might even blame Tang Xinyi for wasting firewood!

Watching her mother-in-law carry the hot water back into the house, Tang Xinyi continued to watch the fire in the pot.

Wait until the smoke coming out of the stove changes color and is no longer those big white clouds.

You know the buns inside are steamed.

He took out the firewood from the stove and placed it under another pot.

There wasn't much firewood left, so I scooped two more buckets of water into the pot and stopped watching it.

All the firewood was pushed into the stove pit and couldn't fall out at all.

Tang Xinyi returned to her room and took out the clothes that the two of them had soiled last night to wash.

When Jiang Yanzhi came back, he saw his young wife washing clothes.

He helped his young wife up. "Who asked you to wash the clothes? Can't you keep these clothes for me to wash when I come back?"

Tang Xinyi was stunned by Jiang Yanzhi's bold move.

Don’t men these days dislike doing housework?

The one she has seems a little different!

"I've almost finished washing the clothes. I just need to change the basin of water and put them out to dry!"

Tang Xinyi picked up the small bucket next to her and wanted to help Jiang Yanzhi fetch water.

"Carrying water is so heavy! Go upstairs and take a rest! This is work for men!"

Jiang Yanzhi helped his young wife sit on the stool beside him, poured the water in the basin himself, and then picked up the small bucket to fetch water.

Jiang Xian, who had just walked in, couldn't help but twitch his eyes when he heard what the brat said.

Isn’t it just marrying a wife?

What are you showing off here?

It's like everyone doesn't have a wife.

You are not the only man who knows how to wash clothes. You were not born when I was washing clothes for my wife!

"Dad, are you back?"

When Tang Xinyi saw Jiang Xian walking in leisurely, she quickly stood up and greeted him.

In fact, she was not used to calling people dad and mom, so she simply changed the way she addressed them. Seeing that the village chief and his wife didn't mind, Tang Xinyi felt relieved.

"Yeah, I'm back!"

"Let this brat do any work. He's very strong and won't get tired!"

Jiang Xian glanced at his own brat, but looked kind and gentle when dealing with Tang Xinyi.

“Hey, I get it!”

Regardless of whether what the other party said was true or false, Tang Xinyi really felt touched.

With an elder who loves the younger generation, her life in this family will not be difficult.

"What are you guys still doing standing in the yard? Hurry up and wash your hands and eat!"

Zheng Xiulian had already washed and changed her clothes when she came out, and saw her old man standing in the yard in a daze.

The son was hanging clothes, and the daughter-in-law was talking to her son.

"Xiu Lian, what did we eat today? Why does it smell so good?"

Jiang Xian was just thinking that the brat performed quite well today. If he could keep it up, he would definitely earn a lot of points in the future.

He heard his wife's voice and hurried into the kitchen.

"I didn't cook this meal today. When I came back, my daughter-in-law had already prepared the meal!"

Zheng Xiulian opened the lid of the pot and what caught her eye were the golden steamed buns. She had never seen steamed buns of this color before.

I found a clean foil basket and picked up the steamed buns one by one.

As soon as she picked up the steamed bun, she knew it was not a wowotou.

Isn’t that why steamed bread can be made in this color?

"Xinyi, what kind of flour do you use to make these steamed buns? Why do they look so soft and colorful?"

Zheng Xiulian, her own daughter-in-law, would ask when she didn't understand.

"These are pumpkin buns. I added steamed pumpkin to the flour. This way, the buns are soft and fluffy, and I save a lot of flour!"

The most important thing is that it tastes delicious.

After picking up the steamed buns, I removed the pot lid and found a fragrant stew inside.

Tang Xinyi wanted to go forward to help, but Zheng Xiulian urged her to sit at the table, and she served the dishes herself.

"You cooked the meal, so don't compete with me for the job of serving the food!"

"Today I want to try my daughter-in-law's cooking. What are you two old men doing dawdling? Wash your hands and come back to eat!"

The food was served, but the two men were still washing up outside.

What have you been doing since you came back so long?

Zheng Xiulian rolled her eyes at the door and sat in her usual seat waiting for dinner.

"If only you had cooked some more porridge, I'd forgotten all about this!"

I took a look at the dishes on the table: a large plate of stew, and then a large foil basket of steamed buns.

A plate of cold cucumber salad and some pickled vegetables made by my mother-in-law.

It always feels like something is missing.

It was not until this moment that Tang Xinyi remembered that the villagers must have porridge for every meal.

"Don't we have steamed buns here? Why cook porridge?"

"It's not too late to cook porridge in the evening. Eat something dry at noon so you can work in the afternoon!"

Seeing that her daughter-in-law felt embarrassed, Zheng Xiulian quickly tried to comfort her.

She was not one of those old ladies in the village who liked to find fault with their daughters-in-law. Her son had finally found a wife and she had even cooked for him, so there was no reason for her to find fault.